Pete M

Why is "trail-only" a sad story? That's the life your Jeep was meant to live! :D I wish more MJs could be rescued from the 'yards for trail-only duty. Jeep on! --Pete

But the dirt option is more fun! :D Jeep on! --Pete

Got pictures? I think we need some proof that it's dead. I've seen some pretty nasty MJs that were still alive and kicking. Jeep on! --Pete

Ohhh, then you ordered add-a-leafs. That makes more sense. 500 smackers for just a 2" lift seems a bit excessive. Jeep on! --Pete

http://members.shaw.ca/snowjeep/rticalc.htm Where did you order your springs and how much? Jeep on! --Pete

Find a dirt road and try to spin the rear tires. be aware that sometimes the actuator doesn't shift instantly. Jeep on! --Pete

I used the original '78 pads for a while after the axle swap (they still had plenty of thickness left and I was broke). They stopped the truck okay enough on the road, but couldn't hold the truck on inclines no matter how much I stood on the pedal. I installed new pads and everything works great now. Jeep on! --Pete

I merely wanted to make sure there wasn't anything drastically wrong with any one of the cylinders in mine. I don't really need to know if the rings are bad (I'm pretty sure they are shot), I won't be tearing that block down anytime soon. I have another that will be going in as soon as I can afford the kit and machine work. Jeep on! --Pete

high-centered: ok, so I'm not really high-centered there, just merely trying out my breakover angle. How about this one: :D I found a nice view of all my 1/4" protection in my Moab photos. I put so much effort into making sure I had those rocker guards done in time for that trip, and they never touched anything. :( Jeep on! --Pete

We *may* have some new info coming forth from Eagle about how the front prop works. He's having one cut in half to see how the insides are plumbed. I'll keep everyone posted. Jeep on! --Pete

How many bites do you have total? I can accept up to 20 mB at a time through my hotmail account. Since I'll be sending out video tapes anyway, it makes sense to me to gather all the photos onto one CD and send it out with the tapes (unless I figure out how to get the video onto the CD too). petermontie@hotmail.com Jeep on! --Pete

The area is very sandy and so the "mud" isn't bad at all. There was plenty of rain the previous day and yet we didn't come across a single place I thought anyone could get stuck in the muck. In lots of the watery places there's actually a hard bottom so you don't sink in. I was pleasently surprised. (I don't really care for mud all that much). That being said, there were plenty of places to get high centered. Underbody armor is of the utmost importance no matter how lifted you are. The MJ's long wheelbase make our rockers more susceptible to damage than an XJ or wrangler. My rocker guards give me a freedom to try things I wouldn't have even thought about before. Even if my Jeep was completely stock, wait..., no 2wd would suck. Ok, even if it was a completely stock "4x4", I would have tried everything I did if I had good rocker protection. I was purposely dropping my truck *hard* onto rocks and such and came out with a big smile and no damage. :D Jeep on! --Pete

Since we just started and our posts-per-day are low, I felt that it'd be better to lump it all together in "Comanche tech". If it has *anything* to do with your Comanche, feel free to post it there. :D If it isn't about the MJ but you want to share, drop it in the pub. I know when I go to naxja, I tend not to look in all of the areas and so I probably miss some cool ideas. So I figured that by using only the bare minimum of topic areas, there was a better shot of everyone seeing every post. Of course, changes may be made as we grow. Jeep on! --Pete

My compression test averaged about 120psi or so with all the cylinders being roughly the same. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but not all that great either. Jeep on! --Pete

Only up to a point. Mine pushes oil laden gasses out of every port it can. I was going to try a larger vacuum line in an effort to increase the flow, but decided that there was so much oil coming out along with the gasses, that it was better to find a way to capture it rather than let it foul up the system. Hopefully his engine just needs a cleaning. 8) Jeep on! --Pete

More to come! :D Jeep on! --Pete

The easiest swap for a Jeep 2.5L is a 2.5L. Get yourself the newest one you can cause the blocks are pretty much interchangeable but the newer ones are built better. Jeep on! --Pete

Mine was so bad I gave up trying to cure it and ended up adding a catch bottle to collect the oil. This was the first one: But I found I needed to upgrade it slightly: It's an incredibly common problem with Jeep engines. Sometimes the simple things can cure it, sometimes you just need to work around it. Jeep on! --Pete[/img]

Every 87-90 MJ owner should invest in an 89 or 90 factory shop manual (89 was the first Chrysler re-write). The electrical diagrams alone are worth the cost. :D 91/92 owners should get a 91 or 92 manual. Jeep on! --Pete

Are we talking about an 87 2wd 4.0 or an 86 4wd 2.5? I'm confused by the poll question. Jeep on! --Pete

The Caribou are AWESOME! :D I did over 3000 miles to Moab and back this summer. Long trips in the MJ are infinitely better than long trips in the minivan. Jeep on! --Pete

I got pictures! It ain't anywhere near this neat today. That's the hoist I built for taking the Bronco apart. Now-a-days I have an engine hoist, but the timbers are back in the landscaping and I can put it back together if needed. It was capable of lifting the entire front end of the Bronco in the air. One of my previous employments required that I have my own tools so I have a much larger collection than I should. Not even close to enough though, but as a need arises I tend to prefer to invest in the tools than to invest in someone elses labor. The exception is welding. I have a weak $65 stick welder that works on what I call the "bubble gum" principle. It's not powerful enough to penetrate, but it sticks to this piece and it sticks to that piece, and if you build enough little blobs between the two, It hold well enough to remove the part from the truck and take it to a professional. I found a couple local pros that do a great job and don't charge much. I don't normally pay for someone elses time, but I will pay for my own piece of mind. 8) Jeep on! --Pete